Automatic sprinkler



Aug. 14%, 1923.

A. J. LQEPSINGER AUTOMATIC SPRINKLER Filed March 18, 1919 e neu ra s s r- ALBERT J. nonrsmonn, or orvensron, .nnonn isnann, Assn" on no e-nnn n.

in TEZ td? EXTIHGUISHER ooi rrennorlnnw roan, N. 1 a conrerer on or new roan.

weste n Application filed March 18- TO (M EU/75.0771 2'5 may concern:

Bo it'known th t ALBERT J.,Lonrs1N- em, 5 the city or Qranston and the county of Providence and State ofRhode island, hare invented certain new and useful lm provementg in Automatic Sprinklers; and i do hereby declarethe following specification taken in connection "with the accompanying drawing, forming a part of the same, to be a full, clear, andeXact descripthis general type have long been recognized,

a. satisfactory'and commercially successful sprinkler has not been heretofore produced, because of the liability of premature frac-' ture of the frangible vessel. d The object' of this invention is to produce an automatic sprinklerof this type provided'with a frangible vessel as a valve holding means for normally holding the sprinkler closed capable of confining the bursting charge in a reliable and positive manner until the temperature reaches a predetermined operating point Several cycles or modes of operation in which the bursting ch'argeacts to shatter its frangible vessel are known in the prior art, two ofwhich are disclosed'in applicants Patents Nos. 1,290,602 and 1,290,762. Sealing of the frangible vessel or bulb therein described is best effected by a fusion of the relatively slender neck usually providedfor that purpose. To accomplish this fusion requires the application of a degree of heat far in excess of the predetermined bursting temperature, and inasmuch as at this latter temperature, the bursting charge, therein described as a liquid, must entirely fill the bulb, the body of the bulb must be kept at a temperature well below the operating point during sealing. This great tempera ture difference ordinarily results in setting up internal stresses in the bulb due to exansion and contraction that render the bulb liable to premature fracture and unlit SPRINKLER.

erial No. 283,295.

for use. Unce l have succeeded in producing a frangible vessel free from the objection referred to and'hz ing in addition certain other advan- ()v rany neretofore proposed. To ac complish this, 1 form, the frangible vessel from a material having such a low co-oi'licient of expansion that said vessels are sub stantially free from internal cooling stresses or, in other words, are exothermic after sealing despite the severe treatment and requirements of the sealing process. The material that l prefer to employ is fused quartz of the transparent form, usually called quartz glass, although the milky translucent form containing air cells, commonly known as fused silica, may be employed. 7

it vessel made from" quartz is substantially' free from internal cooling stresses even after sealing and well adapted to resist sudden changes in temperature, as well as shocks and vibration during use, without danger of cracking. The absence of cool-' ing' stresses also increases the ability of the frangible vessel to resist external forces, such for er:am1plc,"as are imposed upon it in consequence of the pressure in the sprin-' kler system. i hen so employed the total stress in the material is the algebraic sum of that'due to cooling and to the external force imposed. hen the former is absent it is clear that the entire ultimate strength of the'material is available for holdingthe sprinkler closed. and forreliably confining the bursting charge.

Quartz is also a comparatively good'oon ductor of heat so that bulbs made from it closely follow any rise of temperature due to the occurrence of a fire and operate in a prompt and effective manner before the lire has gained much headway. Quartz also possesses a very considerable strength, as a result of which bulbs made therefrom can be inade'correspondingly thin thus producing a further ain in thermal sensitiveness.

CH H

When installed in a dust ladened atmospheresprinklers and other similar apparatus often become coated to such an extent,

particularly if the dust particles possess the ,prop'erty otbondiiig when moistened by ater, or-other condensable liquid, that opening on the occurrence 01 a fire is often seriously retarded and sometimes preventedWVheti I V quartz is employed this liability is greatly 7 due to radiant heat.

. or skylight have but little heating ellect on a vesseliformed from quartz. This property lessened-because moisture doesnot readily condense on the surface of this materiaL:v j

In ordinary practice, with the use ofsolder'ed link sprinklers, it has been found necessary to install so-called highfdegree heads, when thelieads are exposed to the direct rays of the sun, especially under skylights, inimonitors, saw-tooth roofs and the like, in order to prevent accidental opening In a majority of such casesftheheat'rays pass through glass be-i fore striking the sprinkler. I have-discovered that vessels made from quartz Will pass; v

to. a great extent, andwith butslight heat-* ing of the-bulb, all the rays that have previously beenfiltered through such a glass screen. a That is to say, rays of radiant heat hav ng once passed througha glass Window of quartz also becomes of importance in so calledexposure hazards-Suppose, for ex ample, "that. a building in close proximity to one containing automatic spr nklers is in itlainesf The radiant heat passing through, 3

the indows ofthe sprinklered risk may easily open a great many sprinklers, As. the operating temperature is 'usuallygonly' about165 3?. this opening occurs long-before there is'any danger of'actual fire,'as;

very few materials ignite at below 500 F 1 Such premature opening, besidescausing extensive Water damage, may so cripple the Water supply as to make'it ineffective r'or 'Whena vessel employs the cycle described 'inmy latent No."1,290,6O2 itisclear that the shatteringaction increases in effective-i 'nessavith the amount of gas in;the vessel at the tii'neiof sealing. 1 As th e 'space not occupied iby the liquid "determines the; gas" volume, cooling of the bodyof the vessel at the time of sealing andconsequent contracs 'tion oi" the contained liquidfl beyond the point necessary for successful sealing is desirablef; With quartz, this cooling may be carried to any des red low temperature and a' correspondingly sharp shattering action produced at the predetermined bursting temperature. This desirable result is durtli'er enhanced bythe low coeilicient of expansion oi": quartz because cooling results in a contraction or theliquid, Withoutmeasurablyylessening the cubical contents of the containing vessel. v I 1 v g I-leretofore all automatic sprinklers used commercially have .en ployed'leasily fusible solder to hold them normally closed, and their opening temperature has, been deter? mined by the physical properties of the few i I alloys available for solder, rather'th'an; by the conditions of Y service. Alloys 1 having melting points below app'roximately 164 1*. i have been found too Weak'and ithervvise un V reliable forthe purpose, and in consequence so called ordinary orlow degree sprinklers, Which constituteabout 0-1 theentire number in use have employed soldersfusing at the temperature mentioned, although dc greesof heat considerably below: thisjpoint '7 are abnormal and iiidicatethe presence of a fire. Inasmuch as a 'su'ilicientainount of as to produce asatisfactory shattering faction at anyfdesired'loxv'temperature may hefsealed; f

in the' bulb, as already explained, is: ap;

parent that automatic ,sprinklers made in accordance with myrpresentinvention may 7' be setftooperateat'a temperaturelower than the-solder-link 'sprii'iklers", and butlslightly V rjabove'the normal of the locality where' they extinguishing medium upon the iireusooner than has heretotore been possible. 3'

but at a considerably higher-temperature;

are installed and iii-consequence. release an Since the liquid expands with almost ;irre-"' sistible force the .vessel mustincrease-iii volume somewhat during the" interval .be-:

tvveeIi complete filling and final "fracture; 7 Two properties ordinarily operate to permit this increment ofvolu ne, viz :elasticity and f thermal expansion. Q With quartz no noticef able increase occurs from' the latter cause, and as a result the length of intervalzbetvveen complete filling and final fracture is much reduced 1 This is. very i desirable because,

temperatures;

when entirely: filled theIWalls'of the vessel- I V are under, severe -istress, and unable to resist] external force tothe same extent as'atjlower Once sealed it is important ivessels ioit this [character retain the desired predeter- T mined bursting temperature :To ensure this p the volume o'fi 'th e bulb must be unaffected by repeated expansion; and contraction, over wideranges of temperature during years of service. Quartzgbulbs meet thisrequiremeiiti lag.

because of-the absence of sojc alledtherrnal A form of sprinkler in my invenjtion maybe embodied is illustrated in the; accompanying drawing, in :which the figure") shows the sprinkler} mainly in ivertical sec rinlrler illustratedJcomprises a bod portion 2, a yoke 3, screwed at ,oneiend into the bodyportion 2, a resilient-v alve seat & clamped between the yoke and body portion and having a central perforation, a valve 5 resting on the valve seat 4 and normally closing the perforation therein, and a deflector 6 carried by the free end of the yoke, all of the parts above mentioned being of familiar and well known construction except as hereinafter described. In addition, the sprinkler includes cap-piece 7 shaped like an inverted cup and bearing against the under side of the yoke at its top, and a frangible vessel 8 made of quartz and interposed between the cap-piece 7 and the valve 5, where it serves as a strut to hold the valve against its seat under normal conditions. The rounded upper end of the vessel 8 is received in the. concavity of the cap-piece 7 and held in position thereby, the cap-piece itself being centered and held in position by a shallow recessin the yoke in which its rounded upper end rests loosely. The lower end of the vessel 8 is shown as resting on an annular seat provided at the'top of the valve 5, which has a recess formed in it to receive the neck of the vessel and protect it from accidental breakage. The parts are so proportioned that when they are assembled and the yoke is screwed into the body portion to clamp the valve seat l in place, the latter is flexed slightly by the valve and held tightly against the valve by its own elasticity, which is eventually supplemented by the pressure in the sprinkler pipe system to which the sprinkler is attached. In operation, when the vessel is fractured the cappiece 7 drops out of the yoke and is thrown aside with the valve and the fragments of the vessel, thus leaving a free water way for the discharge from the sprinkler.

The frangible vessel 8 is preferably given a cylindrical form as shown and may be conveniently made from quartz glass tubin which is commercially available having a diameter and wall thickness suitable for the vessels themselves. In practice I take such a quartz glass tube and apply heat to a narrow zone near one end. The source of heat may be a number of oxy-hydrogen flames, and as even heating is desired it is well to revolve the tube. This is continued until the quartz is softened, and the walls of the tube collapsed toward the center to a considerable extent.

I then slowly draw the short portion away from the main body of the tube, and

when the heated zone so drawn is of a desired diameter and bore to form a neck convenient for filling and sealing I quickly draw it out of the flames and thus separate it. The neck so formed is of diminishing diameter and terminates in a long thread, which on cooling may be easily broken ofi as desired leaving an open end portion for the neck. The end of the'main portion of the tube remains in the flames and without further manipulation closes to form thereverse end of a vessel.

When this has. been done, the tube is then fed forward a proper amount to make a vessel of any desired length. On repeating the heating and drawing process just described, the portion separated, having one end closed with the other terminating in the desired neck, is a completed vessel and ready for the introduction of the bursting charge and the sealing of the vessel in the manner, for example, explained and disclosed in either of my patents hereinbefore referred to. The process may be repeated until the entr'e tube isused up. \Vhile I have shown'and described the vessel 8 as cylindrical, it will be understood that the same may be made of any desired form or shape. 7 I

Although I have described a vessel formed ing similar properties and qualities fall within the scope of my invention, as for example alundum. In this alternative. however, opacity, lack of considerable strength and the necessity for glaze or hinder to produce a pressure tight vessel are features of inferiority as compared with quartz.

While I have shown my invention as applied to one form or type of automatic sprinklers, it will be evident that the above described frangible vessel is adapted for use in various other forms and types of sprinklers. It will also be understood that said frangible vessel and its contents, in which the novelty of my invention primarily resides, constitutes an article of manufacture which can be used as a thermostatic release in a variety of devices intended to operateat a predetermined ten'lperature, and that other methods for making the bulb may be employed. It should further be understood that my present invention is not directed toward methods of manufacture.

What I claim as my invention and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. An automatic sprinkler comprising, as a means for normally holding the sprinkler closed, a frangible vessel formed from quartz and containing a bursting charge adapted to fracture the vessel when heated to a predetermined temperature.

2. An automatic sprinkler comprising, as a means for normally holding the sprinkler closed, a frangible vessel formed from transparent quartz and containing a bursting charge adapted to fracture the vessel when heated to a predetermined tempera ture.

3. An automatic sprinkler comprising, as

from quartz as best accomplishing the obect stated, my invention 1s not intended to be lim ted to quartz. Other materials havllO a means for normally holding the sprinkler closed, a frangible vessel made'of quartz and nearly filled with carbon tetrachloride;

4. An automatic sprinkler comprislng a frame, a valve, a separable cap-piece positloned on the frame," and a quartz vessel 1nterposedbetvveen the cap-piece and the valve and seated thereon, said vessel being provided with liquid contents adapted to fracture it When sufficiently heated.

5. An article of manufacture comprising'a' frangible vessel formed from quartz and containing a bursting charge adapted to fracture the vessel when heated to a predetermined temperature.

6. An article of manufacture comprising a frangible vessel formed from transparent quartz and containing a bursting charge adapted to fracture the vessel when heated to a predetermined temperature.

7. 'An automate sprinkler comprising as a means fornormally holding thesprinkler closed, a frangible vessel containing a liquid charge adapted by expansion to fill and fracture the vessel at a predetermined sprinkler-operating temperature; said vessel having a fused closure and being made of materialhaving a co-e'liicient of expansion so near to 1.0 that the heating of part to the temperature of fusing while the remainder conleave the material substantially free of internal stresses. Y i

' 8. An articleof'manufacture comprising a frangible vessel containing aliqu'id charge tinues cool; and the cooling bread-part;

adapted by expansion to fill and to 'frac 1 ture the vessel When heated to a predetermined temperature; said vessel having a" heated to a predetermined temperature ;said

vessel havinga fused, closure and being made of material having a'co e fficient'of e'xpansion so nearto 1.0 that the heating of part to the temperature of fusing whilethe remaindercontinues cool, and the cooling of said part, leave the material substantially free of internalstresses. a g

( ALBERT LLOEPSINGER.

Witnesses: v I 1 J. H. THURs'roN, E. E; TANNER 

